A Long Drive

My VW Touran rental car

I began my driving excursion on Tuesday morning.  Apparently the car rental place neglected to see that I had requested an automatic transmission, and I was told they did not have any!  This was a problem indeed, because I wanted to feel comfortable driving in a foreign country instead of fumbling with the stick.  Thankfully they did happen to have ONE car with automatic transmission, and it was only 10 Euros more...I think.  Well after all this, my credit card was declined!  (I called the credit card company later that night to find out that there was a hold placed on my account, because they needed to verify a $1.00 transaction from iTunes - unbelievable).  Once I finally got on the road, I missed my turn and ended up out in the middle of nowhere before I was able to turn around and get on track.  I have always hated GPS navigation systems, but I have to say that the GPS in my car saved my behind on this trip!  The GPS automatically knew if there was a traffic jam somewhere and it took me a different route.  And it always showed me the speed limit on the screen, so if I was confused about whether the speed limit was still in effect or not, I could look on the screen.

After hitting rain and traffic, I finally made it to the city of Münster.  First I stopped at the University to turn in my transcript.  (I had decided to take it personally instead of mailing it, since I would be in the city anyway - wrong decision).  After wandering around for 15 minutes and asking people where the office was, I finally made it to the secretary for Master's applications, only to discover that the office closed at 3pm and I was there at 3:30pm :(  There was an Australian gal there, so we decided to just put our packets underneath the door.

Münster Musikhochschule - it's only one building

Then I raced off to my hotel to check-in and change my clothes before my voice lesson at the Musikhochschule.  The gentleman at the front desk was really nice and even let me borrow his umbrella!  I walked 10 minutes from the hotel to the Musikhochschule, and made it just in time for my 5pm lesson.  The teacher was really nice and it seems like she is interested in me.  She speaks clear German, so I could understand her, but her English is also very good.  We met for about 1/2 an hour and she didn't even charge me, because she says the first lesson is free.

However, there was some miscommunication with my application, because apparently the University has record of my application, but the Musikhochschule does not...and the auditions are next week, when I am back in LA :(  Also, the Master's program in Münster is only a year long, so she said it is very stressful for the students.  I talked to her about the possibility of studying with her for a year before enrolling in the Master's program at Münster, and she said that she would like to do that for my personal benefit, and to help prepare me for the program.

The only problem with Münster, is that I do not like the city.  There was so much going on - busy streets, busy people, no parking, bicycles everywhere, students everywhere.  Not my idyllic vision of Germany...

Hochschule für Musik Detmold -Main building

On Wednesday morning I was off to Detmold, about a 2-hour drive from Münster, but somewhat on my route back to Hof.  I arrived in Detmold at about 1:30pm and immediately loved the town.  It was much smaller than Münster, but bigger than Hof.  It reminded me of Bayreuth and had a similar feel.  After eating my lunch, I took a walk around the town, and I like it a lot better than Münster.  I had a lesson with a professor (an American) there in Detmold at 3:45pm.  She was very helpful and gave me some good advice regarding my voice, as well as some song suggestions to take a look at.  She does not think I am ready for the Master's program yet at Detmold.  (What I'm discovering is that because the German University system is different than the US, most of the singers applying for the the Master's programs here are older, so their voices are more developed.)  She recommended going to Münster to study with the professor there for a year, and then trying to audition at Detmold next year.

Walk in Detmold

So, I'm not quite sure what to do here.  I feel like I'm back at Square One.  I thought that this trip to Germany would make things clear, but now I just feel more confused.  I really like the professor in Münster, but I don't like the city.  I liked the town of Detmold, but there's no chance for me there right now.  And in either case, both places are a 5+ hour drive from Hof, and I'm starting to think that I would like to be closer to them.  Any suggestions, advice, or encouragement at this time would be greatly appreciated...